


Colors

by mmanalysis



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Megaforce
Genre: Gen, Islamophobia, Racism, Stereotypes, racial discussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-08-04
Packaged: 2017-12-21 14:25:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/901333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmanalysis/pseuds/mmanalysis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes being a Power Ranger can't protect you from the stereotypes and racist talk in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Noah

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own and/or claim these characters as my own. Power Rangers Megaforce and its characters belong to the Saban Company.

 

Noah didn’t know what it meant to be black until he hit 6th grade. Oh he knew his skin was slightly darker than others and that the hair would come to an afro but that was what made Noah, Noah. Like Gia’s blonde hair or Jordan’s freckles. It meant nothing.

 That is until he went to the Summer Engineering Camp. Noah was excited to finally be around other people who liked robots and tinkering like he did and to be surrounded by all the awesome tech. As he went into his room, he saw his roommate, Chad, a thin kid with blonde, straight hair and slightly crooked glasses. Chad looked up to see him and had a look of surprise. Noah at first thought it was weird but let it go. Maybe he was surprised by how tall he was compared to the other campers.

 If only that were so.

 During recreational time, he was hanging out with Chad and his other floormates, discussing whether an astronaut or a caveman would win in a fight until Chad said something.

 “I got to say Noah. You’re so not like the other black kids.”

 Noah paused for a minute, trying to process this. “What do you mean?”

 Bryan, a brunette guy from Connecticut chimed in. “He means you don’t do the whole loud, ghetto thing like a lot of black guys at my school do. You’re not doing the whole rap thing and that’s refreshing.”

 But Noah liked rap. And his cousins were very into that look and they were doing well in school, with one at UCLA.

 Chad seemed to notice the look of confusion on Noah’s face. “Dude, it was a compliment. No need to be weird about it.”

 Noah nodded and they continued their discussion but Noah kept repeating the words in his head and wondering about if that was really a compliment.


	2. Emma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Emma's cousin comes change.

Despite what people thought, her mom was actually born and raised in the U.S., met her father at the very American university of Stanford and well, had her.

Really, being Half-Chinese was just another part of her. She was part German too and she didn’t understand the big deal some biracial kids who only identified as one. It made no sense to her. At least, not until her cousin came to visit.

Her cousin, well more like third cousin but still a cousin, had come to go to school in America and was sent here earlier than his parents. Li was exuberant about the whole, thing asking Emma in broken English about American schools, what was popular here so he could fit in, and what how far in math they were. While Emma was exasperated she couldn’t help but feel excited for him.

Monday came and problems happened. In English, Li was called on to try and read a passage. While he stumbled through the book, Emma began to hear quiet snickers around her. She just put it down as him not being able to pronounce certain words. Math was next and Li seemed to be more in his element, able to answer the questions and putting a smile on Ms. Jones’s face with his exuberance. Emma felt happiness bubbling until she heard groans as he asked another question. When complimented by Ms. Jones, he proudly said that “He liked math a lot!”, she heard a quiet “No, duh!” and looked behind her to see who said it.

It wasn’t until lunch period that she knew what was going on. Sitting with the usual table they talked about the various things until Li came up.

“Ugh, with him in our class, Ms. Jones is going to expect more out of us!” complained George. “She should know that wouldn’t be fair since he’s Asian.”

Emma paused mid-chew, processing what George said.

“At least you didn’t have to listen to him butcher the English language.” Alice piped in. The others nodded with her, not noticing Emma’s quiet demeanor. “Yeah, like if you come to this country, you should speak English!” George said.

“I think Li is doing a fine job. It’s not easy to learn English. Especially when your native language is Chinese.”

The group at the table gave her a strange look that she had never seen before.

“Look Emma. I know you have to be protective of everybody, but Li should have been better prepared. And let’s face it, if he goes with us to high school, our class GPA will be screwed due to his overachieving.” Alice said in a matter-of-fact way.

Emma began to feel the frustration build up. “Better prepared for what? He just got here! It took my grandmother a while before she was fluent. And you never say anything to me about screwing up the GPA in our class!”

“That’s because you’re different, Emma. You’re like Half-Chinese and you’re pretty much American anyway.”

That did it. Emma stood up, slamming her hands on the table.

“Why is being American and Chinese exclusive? And for your information, both my grandparents were immigrants to this country so they’re pretty equal. And I’m really getting tired of the crap you’re saying about my cousin!”

As she breathed in and out hard, the others sat stunned and the rest of the cafeteria turned their heads to see the commotion. It was George who broke the silence.

“Gee, if you feel this strongly about it, why are you even here anyway. Go back to China with Li!”

Emma felt the blood drain from her face. She looked around the table for a helping hand but realized none would give it. Leaving her tray behind, she ran out the cafeteria, ran to outside and let out a cry. Sinking to her knees, she just cried for who knows how long until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Li with a concerned look on his face and asked her what’s wrong. Emma could barely talk and just hugged him tightly. Emma felt the surprise in his body and felt it leave as he wound his arms around here, whispering in Chinese about how it would be okay.

Emma wasn’t sure if it would be okay. 


	3. Jake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake decides on a change.

Islam and Christianity.

Jake Karim Holding’s parents pretty much raised him in both, going to the local mosque one week and a Baptist service another. He had never thought much of it and found both to be true to him. It didn’t make much sense but to him it did. Though if he was more honest, he felt more connection to Islam and his mom, listening to her various stories about life in Egypt and teaching him the various dishes her own mother used to cook. When he was 10, he told her that he wanted to visit Egypt someday and see her family with her mom saying maybe, but with a smile that said “we will”.

It wasn’t until 6th grade did he realize that being a Muslim was bad. In Social Studies, the teacher had each of the students present a part of their culture and he discussed how he went to the Mosque, Ramadan, and the various foods his mother would cook like his favorite, kushari. At the end of his presentation, the teacher asked if there were any questions. The silence was palpable, typical of kids not wanting to speak until one kid spoke out, asking if it was his relatives who killed everyone in 9/11. Soon, the other kids started to go along with the same question, asking if he hated freedom, if his mom was a slave, and if he was going to hell. The teacher managed to quiet them down but it was too late. When he came home that day, he told his mom he didn’t want to go to the mosque anymore and when pressed for a reason, he gave none.

From then, he hid away his Koran and only looked at the Bible his dad’s father gave him. He cut his curly hair shorter and only answered his mother in English when she tried to speak to him in Arabic. He was going to be American and while his father was confused about the change, he didn’t voice any disapproval. His mother, however, seemed to have this disappointed look. Why couldn’t she understand that they were in America? And it was working. No one questioned him about 9/11. No one questioned if he was American or not. He belonged.

 So why doesn’t he feel any better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have Jake be Egyptian on his mother's side because I heard his actor, Azim, is half-Egyptian. If I didn't portray anything of the Islam faith or of Egyptian people correctly, please let me know.


	4. Divided We Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noah says something that brings up old memories.

They had won another battle and while they the fight was on, they felt good knowing Earth was safe for another day. The team sat around the table at Ernie’s, studying for their history test on Friday while making small talk. As Noah looked at the book, a thought came to his mind.

“You ever notice we only really learn about white guys?”

That caught the attention of the others. “What do you mean, Noah?” asked Troy.

Noah might have let it dropped but seeing Jake and Emma here, maybe Noah might have some back up in explaining his issues. He inhaled and exhaled before responding. “I mean, at most we get Black History Month and even then we learn the same people over and over. Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, and George Washington Carver. What about Dr. Ben Carson or Mae Jemison?”

“Well it is American History class and not Black History class.” replied Jake.

“But they are Americans and have done a lot for this country. Why shouldn’t they get recognition?” Noah then looked towards Emma. “Emma, don’t you wish they would talk more about the Chinese involvement with the Gold Rush?” Emma was silent about it, staring at her history book while Jake let out a sound of irritation.

“Noah, she’s only half-Chinese, why would she care? Why would you make a big deal out of nothing?”

“It’s not nothing! It’s my history and the fact that it seems to not be considered American is ludicrous to me! You of all people, should know!”

Jake narrowed his eyes dangerously at him. “And what is that supposed to mean.”

“Jake, I might not have been in your 6th grade class but I heard about what happened and I didn’t say anything about it but you don’t have to prove anything….”

Before he could finish, Jake grabbed his backpack, leaving Ernie’s in an angry huff. Gia and Troy stared with confusion as he left, Noah with sadness while Emma continued to stare at her book lost in thought.

_Maybe_ , thought Noah, _Jake and Emma didn’t feel the same way_. 


	5. A Moment of Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma reflects on what happened at Ernie’s and on Jake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My timeline for this is that Noah, Jake, and Gia went to the same middle school with Emma moving to the town in 7th grade.

She should have said something.

As she sat on her bed at night, she thinks about what happened at Ernie’s. Part of her wished Noah hadn’t said anything, while part of her wished Jake didn’t just brush it under the rug. A tiny part of her wished her mom was still around to talk about it.

Her phone started to ring, saw Gia’s picture appear on her phone and answered it.

“Hey G.”

“Hey Em.” A pause. “You okay?”

“Of course I am, I mean it wasn’t like I was the one in the argument.” That was such a terrible lie.

Apparently Gia sensed it too and sighed with exasperation. “Look Em, it’s me Gia. Not Megaforce Yellow. You can talk to me about it.”

Emma sighed, not wanting to delve into her own feelings and just say fine. But this was Gia and if she couldn’t talk to Gia, who else?

“I feel like I should have said something but I’m not sure what. Part of me agreed with Jake in not trying to make it a big deal but then I also see Noah’s point of view.”

Gia made a “hmmm” sound, and replied “Well, I can’t really speak about a lot of the ethnicity stuff because, you know, white, blonde girl. That said, I know what it’s like to be frustrated with the narrow scope of the textbooks. I mean, why the heck do women not get much mention beyond wives and mothers?”

Emma had never made the connection before but now could see how the frustration would be similar.

“Also, who knows how long Noah has been harboring these thoughts and he probably thought he was safe to share it around us. Especially you and Jake.”

“But we’re not black. Heck, we’re half-white.”

“Still, maybe he feels some sort of solidarity.”

Emma hummed in agreement and remembered how Noah was one of Li’s few friends for his brief time at their middle school. That reminded of her of something else.

“Gia. What happened to Jake in 6th grade?”

She heard some shuffling in the background and could see Gia with a frown of her face as if debating whether to say anything.

“Well, I wasn’t in the class with Jake and I don’t know the exact details but basically Jake got crap for being Muslim. Like whether his family are all savages and if they did 9/11. Disgusting stuff. ”

Emma felt a minor flashback to the day in 8th grade and being called a traitor to the U.S. and was starting to understand Jake.

“I wasn’t really close to Jake but something seemed to change in him and he started to act more obnoxious. Now that I think about it, maybe this has something to do with his stupid flirting with me.”

“Thanks Gia. I think I might talk to Jake about it tomorrow.” Emma looked at the clock noticing it was getting close to 11. “Got to go get ready for bed, later.”

She heard the returning goodbye, hung up the phone and lied down on her bed and thought about what Gia said. Was Jake just upset at remembering that bad time? And was he different before she met him?

Emma just sighed, getting up from her bed to start getting ready for sleep. Whatever was going on, not talking about it wasn’t doing either her, Noah or Jake any good.

Maybe it was time to share. 


	6. Confronting the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake confronts his past.

“Can you believe Noah?” Jake starts while at his family dinner’s table with his mom and older sister present while Dad was overseas for business.

“We were just doing the normal thing until he started something about not getting enough black people representation in history books and made things awkward.”

“He has a point. We discussed that in my Post-1865, Jim Crow Laws and Segregation class.” said his sister, Dalila as she scooped the rice onto her plate.

Jake just rolled his eyes. Of course she would try to bring in her college classes. “It wasn’t the right place to do it. Like, bring it up in History or something but jeez, it’s not like there’s a conspiracy.”

“No one said it was a conspiracy. It’s pretty much a fact that barring taking an African-American studies class mainstream history classes don’t include it.”

“But they have their own studies, though.” “Yes but it’s mostly at the college level and the fact they had to make their own classes is a sign that mainstream history didn’t do enough. Ugh, don’t you pay attention, doofus?”

“Dalila, please do not call your brother a doofus at the table.” Jake stuck his tongue at her and she did the same back. “Jake.” Jake’s tongue quickly went back in when his mother’s disapproving gaze came at him and went back to eating.

There was some silence until his mother chimed in. “Jake, what exactly did Noah say that made you so angry.”

Jake thought about it, realizing that he would have to mention what happened in 6th grade. Something he had sworn he would never talk about it. He tried to find his words carefully.

“Well, he said I should know about this whole thing.”

His mother nodded, expecting more. “Well, would you?”

Jake didn’t think about it too much, just blinded by anger but with it mostly gone, he could see it. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” his sister interrupted. “First you seemed pissed off as if it had nothing to do with you and now you’re saying it might? What the hell is it?”

“Language! And Jake, please tell me what happened. I want to help.”

That moment, Jake felt like his old 6th grade self and not the 11th grader he actually is.

“Jake? What happened?” Damn, even his sister sounded concern.

“Remember that day in 6th grade? Where we shared our cultural experiences and I decided to talk about Islam?”

His sister and mother frowned at first as if trying to wonder where this was going until her mom’s eyes widened. “Jake, tell me. Was there any mention of you being called a terrorist?”

Jake was silent and apparently it was enough for his mom to come out of her chair to hug her.

“Oh Jake. I should have seen this! You never going to mosque, not wanting to have Kushari anymore. I’m so sorry I never noticed.”

His sister looked more pissed off. “Those assholes. I’m so glad it’s been a few years or I would have so kick their asses. Actually, let me go find them now! Islamophobic jerkwads!”

His mother seemed to ignore the slew of cuss words as she continued to hug him and felt tears on his cheeks not realizing they were his. For the first time, that pang of pain he felt so long ago was gone. The hurt feelings from the words still lingered but he was happy to know he had somebody, or rather two somebodies, who understood.  

And maybe, that was what Noah needed as well.


	7. United We Stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake, Emma, and Noah come together to share their experiences

The next day after the final bell rang, Jake and Emma made a buzzline to Noah’s locker, both seeking to talk about yesterday, both not expecting the other to be there as they both looked in shock to see the other there at Noah’s locker. They exchanged awkward hellos and stood there waiting for Noah to come from speaking with Mr. Burley, Jake’s hands in his pockets while Emma played with a lock of her hair. Emma decided she had enough the silence.

“So, are you here to talk with ..”

“Noah, yeah. And you’re here to talk to him about…”

“Yesterday, right.”

Finally, Noah walked up to the locker seeing the two with a surprised look on his face. “Was there a ‘Noah’s Locker Meeting’ today that I didn’t know about?”

Jake turned to look at Noah with a serious face that Noah hadn’t seen since, well, yesterday. Emma looked just as serious though with less anxiety coming off her like Jake. Noah’s own anxiousness was starting to surface as well as the three stood there waiting for one to make the first move about the conversation that was needed. Jake was the one to take action.

“So, how about the park?”

The three sat there at one of the park tables underneath a tree, silence still holding onto them as each of them waited for someone to speak up again. Jake sighed and was about to start until Noah decided to be the initiator this time.

“I’m sorry!”

Jake and Emma both looked up at him in surprise.

“I made you both feel uncomfortable and it wasn’t fair for me to drag you into one of my issues. If you want, we can just forget it all happened.”

A pause of silence happened as the other two took in Noah’s apology.

“Noah, I don’t think we can forget.” Emma replied.

Noah’s face fell and Emma quickly had to correct herself. “I meant that while it wasn’t an ideal way of going about it, it’s something that does needed to be talked about.”

Emma paused, trying to collect her thoughts before speaking again. “I wished someone was there to talk it with me. I never really talked about what happened to me in 8th grade and when my mom died not too long ago, I felt…lost.” Emma looked up and noticed Jake and Noah’s full attention was on her and started to speak again.

“I wish I had asked her if she ever got made fun of for being Chinese. If she was accused of not being American. Sometimes I wished I could talk to other kids who knew how this felt.”

“I kind of do.” Jake replied. “I mean I got crap mostly for my religion but I can’t help but think it’s tied to the fact I don’t look as white as my dad.” Jake then stared at his hands that were balled together as if trying to hold back his emotions. “I wish I hadn’t spent all that time till now rejecting that side of my family, making my mom think there was something wrong with her.”

Emma nodded, understanding what he had just said and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I heard from Gia what happened. I totally understand when people try to use your non-white half to accuse you of stuff.”

Noah played with his bookbag’s straps before saying his own piece. “I’m pretty much black. Well, I not pure due to slavery, possibility of people who passed, and some other external factors….” “Just get on with it, Noah.” Jake interrupted. Noah let out an annoyed sigh before continuing.

“What I mean was I don’t know the whole biracial experience but I know what it’s like. I know about the subtle jabs, those statements of ‘not being like the others’, and just..everything.”

Jake’s expression turned to confusion, trying to remember any incident in school. Noah noticed this and elaborated. “After 6th grade, I went to that Engineering camp, remember? Let’s just say it was considered shocking for me to even be there.”

Jake’s confused expression turned to disappointment as he clapped his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Man, sorry you had to go through that. And at your favorite nerd thing to do as well!” Emma nodded along and said “Why can’t people think before they speak? I try not to think bad about people but sometimes it feels as if they don’t want to care!”

“And you can do everything you can to fit in but you can still hear the whispers of ‘there goes that Muslim kid, hope he doesn’t blow us all up on the field!’” Jake said, voice a little higher and angrier.

“And you end up wondering if you’re just oversensitive and keep questioning your feelings are wrong or the less happy alternative that no one cares about your feelings!”

The three sat there silence, the rush of anger going as quickly as it came. Emma then walked to the front of the guys and hugged Noah and Jake, the two being taken aback but then reciprocating.

“Thanks for letting me air all that out.” Emma responded, pulling back from the hug. Jake stood up from his spot to pick up his bag. “Well, it’s good to have someone understand, right Noah?”

“Right.” Noah replied, standing up with his bag as well. Jake then placed his arms around Emma’s and Noah’s shoulders before exclaiming “Well, I don’t know about you but after that unloading I need some kushari!” “Sounds good but what’s kushari?” asked Noah. Jake proceeded to explain his favorite dish as they walked towards this local place that serves it.

As the trio headed towards the location, they knew that this wouldn’t be the end to the stereotypes and racism they will face. Even being a Power Ranger couldn’t stop that from happening. But they knew as long as they had each other to lean on, they could make it.

United together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who read this work!   
> This idea was a long time coming and I was a bit apprehensive since there's not a lot of fanfiction dealing with social issues in the Power Rangers universe but I really wanted to give it a try.   
> Also, I am always open to ideas, discussions, or just random comments.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came from a discussion about how it seemed that in casting they wanted to have the suprificiality of diversity without really wanting to be diverse. I wanted to explore the POC rangers on the megaforce team.


End file.
